


What You Need To Know

by Theladyofthelake



Category: Smallville, Supergirl (TV 2015), Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types, Superman: The Animated Series
Genre: Alcohol, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 20:12:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12660600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theladyofthelake/pseuds/Theladyofthelake
Summary: Lois Lane has a little too much to drink and  decides to invite Clark Kent back to her place one night.  It must have been the wine...





	What You Need To Know

**Author's Note:**

> This story fits in any Superman media really. I view it as a comics AU or even a potential idea for the Berlantiverse Superman. I was inspired by an issue from Action Comics where Lois and Clark have an almost miss at a bar. But it also fits in with an Animated series or Smallville AU. Use whatever canon you want.
> 
> This is unbetaed and written quickly so forgive typos.

It had just been the wine. Or, rather, the combination of wine and the bar's rather terrible but oddly charming 80's and 90's playlist. It wasn't a dive bar per se. But the tiny neighborhood watering hole that sat around the corner on a slightly neglected side street near the Daily Planet wasn't exactly what one would call a romantic setting either. But it had been dark and hot and sometimes...things get confusing when it's dark and hot. At least, that's what Lois told herself. It was the wine and the music and...look...she had a thing for nostalgic, dirty Prince lyrics. It was just the mix of lyrics and alcohol that had put her in a weird space. That's why she had invited Clark Kent back to her apartment at 11:00 on a random Friday night. It wasn't because she wanted HIM, ok? It was just...

Ok, well you need to understand...it had been a long day. A long week. A long month. Lois was tired and spent and they had worked hours, days, weeks breaking this story on the corruption in the DA's office. Hours of research and struggle and writes and rewrites. Clark had...well...he had done extremely well. He had been incredibly supportive of her instincts and he had stood there and let her take the lead when they questioned The Mayor and he had backed her up to Perry White when Perry questioned whether she was chasing a road to nowhere. He had stood patiently over her shoulder as she pounded out a draft and he had playfully but still kindly corrected her spelling and fixed a few simple grammatical errors that she had missed in her passion to get the article online by deadline. He had been kind of...wonderful? 

Maybe that's why, once the story had been submitted, and they had both slumped in their desk chairs in a fit of triumph and relief, she found herself saying to him, "Hey, Smallville. Wanna go grab a drink?" 

It was already past dinnertime. They hadn't really eaten a proper meal (sharing snacks at their desks didn't really count) and Clark Kent wasn't typically the kind of guy who encouraged "drinking" one's dinner. He had made a hasty comment about making sure she ate a burger or something at the bar and blurted out "Sure, Lois!" in a way that ::almost:: maybe seemed a forced kind of casual to mask his enthusiasm at the invitation. Or...did she imagine that? 

Two hours later, she was buzzed. She knew she was buzzed but she couldn't tell if Clark was. He had had just as many drinks as she had. They were seated in the corner on two bar stools and the remnants of the burger and fries he had ordered for them to share were pushed to the side in front of them. The music was blaring and she was leaning into him to talk into his ear. And that was when she noticed it....how delightful it was to lean this close to him. He smelled clean and fresh and woodsy. He rolled his sleeves up to lean his arms up on the bar and she found herself staring at the hair on his forearms. She wanted to touch him. So she did. She had leaned over and put her hand on his arm for emphasis the next time she ordered a drink. She touched his arm through his plaid dress shirt and she swore---she swore---she felt him sit up straighter the second she did it. 

The bar was getting slightly more rowdy as the night went on. People were starting to get drunker around them. Clark turned to face her in his seat and said "Hey, before I forget to say it, thanks for letting me help you break the story, Lois. I know it was your lead and..well...I appreciated being included." 

He was looking at her when he reached out to push his glasses up his nose. "To be honest, Clark? You impressed me out there. We..we make a good team." 

He grinned then. A huge, toothy, grin that was so distinctly...him. "Yeah, we do," he said. It was the kind of smile that tells no lies and keeps no secrets and has no agenda. Clark Kent was hiding something from her, of that Lois Lane was certain. She wasn't sure entirely what it was but she saw it in the way he sometimes started to get heated with her, the intensity of their arguing at times over something petty at work. She saw the fire in his eyes as he started to fight with her and then...he would just pull back. Let her win. But sitting here now, with the music playing, in the dark, he seemed relaxed and unguarded. Happy. And, though Lois was loathe to admit it...hot. 

"So, what is the nightlife like in Smallville, Smallville? Mechanical bulls and country line dancing?" She smirked at him as she sipped slowly on her drink. 

The corners of his mouth turned up in amusement and he leaned his head back slightly. "Some dancing, I suppose. Though not something I'm particularly good at. I have yet to see a mechanical bull but that would be fun, I guess." He shook his head. 

"Ha! I always thought that I might be good at that." She had taken her hand off his arm and he had turned almost entirely forward on his stool now to face her. 

He looked down at the contents of his drink and played with the straw. "I imagine you would be." He looked up at her then. And...did...did he wink at her? What the fuck was happening here? 

"If I were to ask the good people of Smallville to describe Clark Kent to me in 3 words...what would they say?" She moved slightly closer to him. 

He pushed his glasses up again and seemed to hesitate for a minute. "I don't really know, Lois. I was kind of a loner back home. I...I didn't know too many people very well. Why do you ask?" 

She took a long sip of her drink and leaned closer. For a moment, the heel of her leather boot caught on the stool and she almost tumbled off the chair. She steadied herself with a hand on his thigh. It was, not surprisingly, muscular and hard. They definitely ate their Wheaties and drank their milk in good old, Kansas, she supposed. If she was being honest...she had noticed Clark's body before. It was hard not to, for fuck's sake, they practically worked on top of each other. She didn't openly leer at him like some of the other women in the office did. She wasn't Cat Grant. But I mean...she had noticed the way he filled out a pair of pants. She had eyes. He reached his arms out to steady her on the stool and gripped her around the waist so she wouldn't fall. Then he stared down at her hand. 

She found her balance again and said, "I don't know, Clark. I guess I just...wondered what it would feel like to have you entirely figured out...wondered if you've always been this...well....sweet. And sincere. But, of course, you must have been. Because that's who you are. You pretend to be...I'm not sure exactly sure what... but I know you." 

His glasses were slipping down his nose again but, this time, he let them go. He was staring into her eyes now. "I don't know what you mean, Lois." 

She finished her drink off and put the glass down on the bar. "I think you do, Smallville. But...I'm a patient woman." 

He was still staring at her from underneath his glasses. Laughing to himself now. Smug? "I was not aware that patience was one of your many virtues, Ms. Lane." She saw him crack a smile now and raise his eyebrows. Clark loved to play innocent but she was fairly certain that she had caught him discreetly checking her out a few times. It was so hard to tell with him though. She was never quite sure what he wanted. She wondered though if he wanted ...her. 

"What about me?" 

"What about you?" She was confusing him now. Not that it would be the first time. Good. Let him be confused. 

"How would you describe me? Three words." 

Her hand was still on his thigh and he stared at it as he started to answer her. He took a long sip of his drink and laughed in the back of his throat. "God, Lois. I...I don't know. Exasperating...stubborn...brilliant." He lifted his eyes now from his thigh and looked into her eyes. ".......Beautiful." 

"That's more than 3 words." 

"I have more than 3 words to describe you, I guess." He reached out then and stroked her dark hair behind her ear. "Brave. Frustrating.....Sexy. You are...both hard and easy to describe." 

And it was the wine. The wine and the dark and...that nostalgia from the music. It was all of those things. It was not that she ::wanted:: Clark Kent. Don't be fucking ridiculous. That would be silly. She wasn't some flighty intern who squirmed when he walked by. This was all just...she was confused was all. And he was handsome and sweet and he had been so helpful this week. And his thigh felt good in the dark under her hand. 

It was the wine and confusion and all of those things that drove her to lean in then intensely close to Clark Kent and say, "Would you like to go back to my place for a bit?" 

And it had to have been the liquor and Prince song and the fact that it was late on a Friday and they were tired and spent that made him say, "Yes." 

..............................................................


End file.
